Sastre wins at L'Alpe d'Huez, takes overall tour lead

ALPE D'HUEZ, France -- Carlos Sastre of Spain won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, taking the overall lead today from CSC teammate Frank Schleck on the hardest ride up three huge Alpine climbs.

Christophe Ena/Associated PressStage winner and new overall leader Carlos Sastre of Spain reacts as he crosses the finish line today in l'Alpe-d'Huez during 17th stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and L'Alpe d'Huez in the French Alps.

Sastre took the yellow jersey by speeding ahead of the main title contenders in the final ascent of the 130.8-mile ride from Embrun to L'Alpe d'Huez.

Sastre, a five-time top-10 finisher at the Tour de France, beat most of the other title threats by more than two minutes. He also won a mountain stage in 2003.

The stage was the last of three in the Alps. Riders will face a time trial Saturday that's likely to determine the winner. In the meantime, two days of mostly flat stages aren't likely to influence the rankings.

Cadel Evans of Australia remains a favorite to win the Tour, barring a crash or other mishap, because he is the best time-trial cyclist among the contenders.

Overall, Sastre leads Schleck of Luxembourg by 1 minute, 24 seconds, and Bernhard Kohl of Germany by 1:33. Evans is fourth, 1:34 behind. Another strong time-trial rider, Denis Menchov of Russia, is 2:39 back in fifth.

Team CSC was dominant up the first two climbs, leading the group around the race leader that split ahead of the main pack. By the base of L'Alpe d'Huez, Schleck had five teammates escorting him.

Then Sastre burst ahead, and he extended his lead up the famed final climb.

"I am very proud and very happy, we all did a remarkable job," CSC owner Bjarne Riis said. "We did the best possible ... I don't know if we'll win, but we have won (today)."

It's likely to come down to whether Sastre has enough of a lead on Evans to hold him off in the time trial.
-- The Associated Press